Soul of a NationArt in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983

Black and WhiteIn 1963, a group of artists met in New York to discuss how their art should respond to the Civil Rights movement. Their opinions were as diverse as their artistic styles, and they asked many questions about their responsibility as Black artists to their communities and nation. They decided to name their group Spiral.

For their one and only group exhibition, these artists decided to show artworks that used only black and white. The color choice unified the different styles of artwork and symbolized larger ideas about race.

The questions that the Spiral group posed continue to be asked and answered in this exhibition:

How does art impact a community?How do artists help change a nation?

Use these questions and this guide to look at and discuss the artworks, then get creative as you explore the galleries with your family.

Talk about RaceThese tips from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org) can support a family discussion about race and prejudice.

Acknowledge differences. Rather than teach children that people are all the same, acknowledge the many ways people are different and emphasize some of the positive aspects of our differences—language diversity and various music and cooking styles, for example.

Be honest about instances, historical and current, when people have been mistreated because of their differences.

Encourage your family members to talk about what makes them different, and discuss ways that being different may have helped or hurt them at times. After that, finding similarities becomes even more powerful, creating a sense of common ground. Source: Willams, Dana. “Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice,” 31. tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/beyond_golden_rule.pdf.

Image credits, in order of appearance: Barkley L. Hendricks, Blood (Donald Formey), 1975. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 72 × 50½ in. (182.9 × 128.3 cm). © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Herb Robinson, Brother and Sister, 1973. © Herb Robinson, image courtesy of the artist. Adger Cowans, Shadows, New York, 1961. Silver gelatin print, 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm). © Adger Cowans. Photograph by Bruce W. Talamon. © 1974. All Rights Reserved. Barbara Jones-Hogu, Unite (detail), 1971. Screenprint on paper, 22½ × 30 in. (57.2 × 76.2 cm). Purchased with assistance from the Ford Foundation 2018. Estate of Barbara Jones-Hogu. Courtesy of Lusenhop Fine Art. Cliff Joseph, Blackboard, 1969. Oil on canvas, 26 × 36 in. (66 × 91.4 cm). Aaron Galleries, Glenview, Illinois

This Discovery Guide is developed by Ariana Bayer, senior teaching artist at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

This exhibition is organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Presenting Sponsor: Diane B. Wilsey. Lead support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation and the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Exhibitions. Major support is provided by the Ford Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. Generous support is provided by Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Marcia and John Goldman, Pirkle Jones Fund, and The Diana Dollar Knowles Foundation. Additional support is provided by Dorothy Saxe. In-kind support is provided by Alaska Airlines.

Black ImpressionsA symbol is an image that represents an idea. For example, a nation’s flag is a symbol of that nation.

The Civil Rights era was a time when more Americans began to see that the nation’s ideals, symbolized by the American flag, were denied to Black Americans. Many artists used the flag in their work as a way of exploring this issue.

Look and Discuss Look for works of art that have the American flag in them and discuss with your family what ideas or feelings the artists may have been trying to express by using this symbol. What are your experiences with the flag? For example, do you pledge allegiance to the flag at school or sports games?

Get CreativeFind David Hammons’s body prints with the flag. With your body, copy the positions of the figures in the prints and describe what it feels like.

“Outrageously magical things happen when you mess around with a symbol.” —David Hammons

David Hammons making body prints, Los Angeles, 1974 Gallery Guidelines: Help care for the art! Please walk in the galleries, and don’t touch or get too close to the art; 18 inches is a safe distance. Use a pencil, as pens can accidentally damage the artwork. Sit safely without leaning on walls or lying on the gallery floor. Thank you.

Black LightMany photographers in this gallery were members of the Kamoinge Workshop, a New York–based group of Black photographers. The first Kamoinge director, Roy DeCarava, wrote that their goal was to “reflect a concern for truth about the world, about society, and about themselves.” The group continues to support Black photographers today.

Look and Discuss What emotions are captured in the faces and bodies of the people in the photographs?

What details in the frame tell you about the place?

What in these images is familiar to you? What is unfamiliar to you? Think about time period, place, emotion, relationships, actions, gender, and race.

Destruction and CreationBlack Power and Art on the Streets

A symbol can mean different things to different people at different times in history.

Get CreativeChoose up to three of the words below and write about what the word means to you.

Family Community Nation Unity PowerLook and DiscussRoy DeCarava is celebrated for the variation and richness of tones in his black-and-white photographs. Find a DeCarava photograph in the gallery, or choose one of the images on this page. How many grays can you find? Put an X under each gray you see on this grayscale.

Just Above Midtown

Get CreativeWhat is art to you? Take the frame and make your own piece of art by framing something that is interesting to you. Then take a photo of what you frame and post it on Instagram using @deyoungmuseum #SoulofaNation to tag us!

Black Heroes and AfriCOBRA

In 1967 the Organization of Black American Culture defined a “Black Hero” as a person who: 1. “Honestly reflects the beauty of Black life and genius in his or her style. 2. Does not forget his Black brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. 3. Does what he does in such an outstanding manner that he or she cannot be imitated or replaced.”

In the photo series, Art Is . . ., artist Lorraine O’Grady had dancers use gold picture frames to highlight people watching Harlem’s 1983 African American Day Parade. “But the people on the parade route got it. Everywhere there were shouts of: ‘That’s right. That’s what art is. WE’re the art!’ And, ‘Frame ME, make ME art!’ It was amazing.” —Lorraine O’Grady

Look and DiscussWho do artists in this exhibition choose to show as heroes? Who are the everyday heroes in your life? Are they like the crossing guard, family members, friends, artists, and babysitter featured in this gallery? How do colors, size, and placement celebrate these heroes?

Look and DiscussLook at the photographs from O’Grady’s performance.What is included in the frame? How does the frame change what you see?

Get CreativeDraw someone you think of as a hero in your community. Think about their pose (sitting, standing, gesturing, dancing). Add words to the drawing to describe the person, or something you imagine they might say.

Explore the galleries with your family and look for symbols that connect to these words. Sketch a detail of the symbol from an artwork.

Soul of a NationArt in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983

Black and WhiteIn 1963, a group of artists met in New York to discuss how their art should respond to the Civil Rights movement. Their opinions were as diverse as their artistic styles, and they asked many questions about their responsibility as Black artists to their communities and nation. They decided to name their group Spiral.

For their one and only group exhibition, these artists decided to show artworks that used only black and white. The color choice unified the different styles of artwork and symbolized larger ideas about race.

The questions that the Spiral group posed continue to be asked and answered in this exhibition:

How does art impact a community?How do artists help change a nation?

Use these questions and this guide to look at and discuss the artworks, then get creative as you explore the galleries with your family.

Talk about RaceThese tips from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org) can support a family discussion about race and prejudice.

Acknowledge differences. Rather than teach children that people are all the same, acknowledge the many ways people are different and emphasize some of the positive aspects of our differences—language diversity and various music and cooking styles, for example.

Be honest about instances, historical and current, when people have been mistreated because of their differences.

Encourage your family members to talk about what makes them different, and discuss ways that being different may have helped or hurt them at times. After that, finding similarities becomes even more powerful, creating a sense of common ground. Source: Willams, Dana. “Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice,” 31. tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/beyond_golden_rule.pdf.

Image credits, in order of appearance: Barkley L. Hendricks, Blood (Donald Formey), 1975. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 72 × 50½ in. (182.9 × 128.3 cm). © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Herb Robinson, Brother and Sister, 1973. © Herb Robinson, image courtesy of the artist. Adger Cowans, Shadows, New York, 1961. Silver gelatin print, 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm). © Adger Cowans. Photograph by Bruce W. Talamon. © 1974. All Rights Reserved. Barbara Jones-Hogu, Unite (detail), 1971. Screenprint on paper, 22½ × 30 in. (57.2 × 76.2 cm). Purchased with assistance from the Ford Foundation 2018. Estate of Barbara Jones-Hogu. Courtesy of Lusenhop Fine Art. Cliff Joseph, Blackboard, 1969. Oil on canvas, 26 × 36 in. (66 × 91.4 cm). Aaron Galleries, Glenview, Illinois

This Discovery Guide is developed by Ariana Bayer, senior teaching artist at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

This exhibition is organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Presenting Sponsor: Diane B. Wilsey. Lead support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation and the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Exhibitions. Major support is provided by the Ford Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. Generous support is provided by Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Marcia and John Goldman, Pirkle Jones Fund, and The Diana Dollar Knowles Foundation. Additional support is provided by Dorothy Saxe. In-kind support is provided by Alaska Airlines.

Black ImpressionsA symbol is an image that represents an idea. For example, a nation’s flag is a symbol of that nation.

The Civil Rights era was a time when more Americans began to see that the nation’s ideals, symbolized by the American flag, were denied to Black Americans. Many artists used the flag in their work as a way of exploring this issue.

Look and Discuss Look for works of art that have the American flag in them and discuss with your family what ideas or feelings the artists may have been trying to express by using this symbol. What are your experiences with the flag? For example, do you pledge allegiance to the flag at school or sports games?

Get CreativeFind David Hammons’s body prints with the flag. With your body, copy the positions of the figures in the prints and describe what it feels like.

“Outrageously magical things happen when you mess around with a symbol.” —David Hammons

David Hammons making body prints, Los Angeles, 1974 Gallery Guidelines: Help care for the art! Please walk in the galleries, and don’t touch or get too close to the art; 18 inches is a safe distance. Use a pencil, as pens can accidentally damage the artwork. Sit safely without leaning on walls or lying on the gallery floor. Thank you.

Black LightMany photographers in this gallery were members of the Kamoinge Workshop, a New York–based group of Black photographers. The first Kamoinge director, Roy DeCarava, wrote that their goal was to “reflect a concern for truth about the world, about society, and about themselves.” The group continues to support Black photographers today.

Look and Discuss What emotions are captured in the faces and bodies of the people in the photographs?

What details in the frame tell you about the place?

What in these images is familiar to you? What is unfamiliar to you? Think about time period, place, emotion, relationships, actions, gender, and race.

Destruction and CreationBlack Power and Art on the Streets

A symbol can mean different things to different people at different times in history.

Get CreativeChoose up to three of the words below and write about what the word means to you.

Family Community Nation Unity PowerLook and DiscussRoy DeCarava is celebrated for the variation and richness of tones in his black-and-white photographs. Find a DeCarava photograph in the gallery, or choose one of the images on this page. How many grays can you find? Put an X under each gray you see on this grayscale.

Just Above Midtown

Get CreativeWhat is art to you? Take the frame and make your own piece of art by framing something that is interesting to you. Then take a photo of what you frame and post it on Instagram using @deyoungmuseum #SoulofaNation to tag us!

Black Heroes and AfriCOBRA

In 1967 the Organization of Black American Culture defined a “Black Hero” as a person who: 1. “Honestly reflects the beauty of Black life and genius in his or her style. 2. Does not forget his Black brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. 3. Does what he does in such an outstanding manner that he or she cannot be imitated or replaced.”

In the photo series, Art Is . . ., artist Lorraine O’Grady had dancers use gold picture frames to highlight people watching Harlem’s 1983 African American Day Parade. “But the people on the parade route got it. Everywhere there were shouts of: ‘That’s right. That’s what art is. WE’re the art!’ And, ‘Frame ME, make ME art!’ It was amazing.” —Lorraine O’Grady

Look and DiscussWho do artists in this exhibition choose to show as heroes? Who are the everyday heroes in your life? Are they like the crossing guard, family members, friends, artists, and babysitter featured in this gallery? How do colors, size, and placement celebrate these heroes?

Look and DiscussLook at the photographs from O’Grady’s performance.What is included in the frame? How does the frame change what you see?

Get CreativeDraw someone you think of as a hero in your community. Think about their pose (sitting, standing, gesturing, dancing). Add words to the drawing to describe the person, or something you imagine they might say.

Explore the galleries with your family and look for symbols that connect to these words. Sketch a detail of the symbol from an artwork.

✁Cut out center to create a frame.

Black LightMany photographers in this gallery were members of the Kamoinge Workshop, a New York–based group of Black photographers. The first Kamoinge director, Roy DeCarava, wrote that their goal was to “reflect a concern for truth about the world, about society, and about themselves.” The group continues to support Black photographers today.

Look and Discuss What emotions are captured in the faces and bodies of the people in the photographs?

What details in the frame tell you about the place?

What in these images is familiar to you? What is unfamiliar to you? Think about time period, place, emotion, relationships, actions, gender, and race.

Destruction and CreationBlack Power and Art on the Streets

A symbol can mean different things to different people at different times in history.

Get CreativeChoose up to three of the words below and write about what the word means to you.

Family Community Nation Unity PowerLook and DiscussRoy DeCarava is celebrated for the variation and richness of tones in his black-and-white photographs. Find a DeCarava photograph in the gallery, or choose one of the images on this page. How many grays can you find? Put an X under each gray you see on this grayscale.

Just Above Midtown

Get CreativeWhat is art to you? Take the frame and make your own piece of art by framing something that is interesting to you. Then take a photo of what you frame and post it on Instagram using @deyoungmuseum #SoulofaNation to tag us!

Black Heroes and AfriCOBRA

In 1967 the Organization of Black American Culture defined a “Black Hero” as a person who: 1. “Honestly reflects the beauty of Black life and genius in his or her style. 2. Does not forget his Black brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. 3. Does what he does in such an outstanding manner that he or she cannot be imitated or replaced.”

In the photo series, Art Is . . ., artist Lorraine O’Grady had dancers use gold picture frames to highlight people watching Harlem’s 1983 African American Day Parade. “But the people on the parade route got it. Everywhere there were shouts of: ‘That’s right. That’s what art is. WE’re the art!’ And, ‘Frame ME, make ME art!’ It was amazing.” —Lorraine O’Grady

Look and DiscussWho do artists in this exhibition choose to show as heroes? Who are the everyday heroes in your life? Are they like the crossing guard, family members, friends, artists, and babysitter featured in this gallery? How do colors, size, and placement celebrate these heroes?

Look and DiscussLook at the photographs from O’Grady’s performance.What is included in the frame? How does the frame change what you see?

Get CreativeDraw someone you think of as a hero in your community. Think about their pose (sitting, standing, gesturing, dancing). Add words to the drawing to describe the person, or something you imagine they might say.

Explore the galleries with your family and look for symbols that connect to these words. Sketch a detail of the symbol from an artwork.

Black LightMany photographers in this gallery were members of the Kamoinge Workshop, a New York–based group of Black photographers. The first Kamoinge director, Roy DeCarava, wrote that their goal was to “reflect a concern for truth about the world, about society, and about themselves.” The group continues to support Black photographers today.

Look and Discuss What emotions are captured in the faces and bodies of the people in the photographs?

What details in the frame tell you about the place?

What in these images is familiar to you? What is unfamiliar to you? Think about time period, place, emotion, relationships, actions, gender, and race.

Destruction and CreationBlack Power and Art on the Streets

A symbol can mean different things to different people at different times in history.

Get CreativeChoose up to three of the words below and write about what the word means to you.

Family Community Nation Unity PowerLook and DiscussRoy DeCarava is celebrated for the variation and richness of tones in his black-and-white photographs. Find a DeCarava photograph in the gallery, or choose one of the images on this page. How many grays can you find? Put an X under each gray you see on this grayscale.

Just Above Midtown

Get CreativeWhat is art to you? Take the frame and make your own piece of art by framing something that is interesting to you. Then take a photo of what you frame and post it on Instagram using @deyoungmuseum #SoulofaNation to tag us!

Black Heroes and AfriCOBRA

In 1967 the Organization of Black American Culture defined a “Black Hero” as a person who: 1. “Honestly reflects the beauty of Black life and genius in his or her style. 2. Does not forget his Black brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. 3. Does what he does in such an outstanding manner that he or she cannot be imitated or replaced.”

In the photo series, Art Is . . ., artist Lorraine O’Grady had dancers use gold picture frames to highlight people watching Harlem’s 1983 African American Day Parade. “But the people on the parade route got it. Everywhere there were shouts of: ‘That’s right. That’s what art is. WE’re the art!’ And, ‘Frame ME, make ME art!’ It was amazing.” —Lorraine O’Grady

Look and DiscussWho do artists in this exhibition choose to show as heroes? Who are the everyday heroes in your life? Are they like the crossing guard, family members, friends, artists, and babysitter featured in this gallery? How do colors, size, and placement celebrate these heroes?

Look and DiscussLook at the photographs from O’Grady’s performance.What is included in the frame? How does the frame change what you see?

Get CreativeDraw someone you think of as a hero in your community. Think about their pose (sitting, standing, gesturing, dancing). Add words to the drawing to describe the person, or something you imagine they might say.

Explore the galleries with your family and look for symbols that connect to these words. Sketch a detail of the symbol from an artwork.

Soul of a NationArt in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983

Black and WhiteIn 1963, a group of artists met in New York to discuss how their art should respond to the Civil Rights movement. Their opinions were as diverse as their artistic styles, and they asked many questions about their responsibility as Black artists to their communities and nation. They decided to name their group Spiral.

For their one and only group exhibition, these artists decided to show artworks that used only black and white. The color choice unified the different styles of artwork and symbolized larger ideas about race.

The questions that the Spiral group posed continue to be asked and answered in this exhibition:

How does art impact a community?How do artists help change a nation?

Use these questions and this guide to look at and discuss the artworks, then get creative as you explore the galleries with your family.

Talk about RaceThese tips from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org) can support a family discussion about race and prejudice.

Acknowledge differences. Rather than teach children that people are all the same, acknowledge the many ways people are different and emphasize some of the positive aspects of our differences—language diversity and various music and cooking styles, for example.

Be honest about instances, historical and current, when people have been mistreated because of their differences.

Encourage your family members to talk about what makes them different, and discuss ways that being different may have helped or hurt them at times. After that, finding similarities becomes even more powerful, creating a sense of common ground. Source: Willams, Dana. “Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice,” 31. tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/beyond_golden_rule.pdf.

Image credits, in order of appearance: Barkley L. Hendricks, Blood (Donald Formey), 1975. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 72 × 50½ in. (182.9 × 128.3 cm). © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Herb Robinson, Brother and Sister, 1973. © Herb Robinson, image courtesy of the artist. Adger Cowans, Shadows, New York, 1961. Silver gelatin print, 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm). © Adger Cowans. Photograph by Bruce W. Talamon. © 1974. All Rights Reserved. Barbara Jones-Hogu, Unite (detail), 1971. Screenprint on paper, 22½ × 30 in. (57.2 × 76.2 cm). Purchased with assistance from the Ford Foundation 2018. Estate of Barbara Jones-Hogu. Courtesy of Lusenhop Fine Art. Cliff Joseph, Blackboard, 1969. Oil on canvas, 26 × 36 in. (66 × 91.4 cm). Aaron Galleries, Glenview, Illinois

This Discovery Guide is developed by Ariana Bayer, senior teaching artist at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

This exhibition is organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Presenting Sponsor: Diane B. Wilsey. Lead support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation and the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Exhibitions. Major support is provided by the Ford Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. Generous support is provided by Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Marcia and John Goldman, Pirkle Jones Fund, and The Diana Dollar Knowles Foundation. Additional support is provided by Dorothy Saxe. In-kind support is provided by Alaska Airlines.

Black ImpressionsA symbol is an image that represents an idea. For example, a nation’s flag is a symbol of that nation.

The Civil Rights era was a time when more Americans began to see that the nation’s ideals, symbolized by the American flag, were denied to Black Americans. Many artists used the flag in their work as a way of exploring this issue.

Look and Discuss Look for works of art that have the American flag in them and discuss with your family what ideas or feelings the artists may have been trying to express by using this symbol. What are your experiences with the flag? For example, do you pledge allegiance to the flag at school or sports games?

Get CreativeFind David Hammons’s body prints with the flag. With your body, copy the positions of the figures in the prints and describe what it feels like.

“Outrageously magical things happen when you mess around with a symbol.” —David Hammons

David Hammons making body prints, Los Angeles, 1974 Gallery Guidelines: Help care for the art! Please walk in the galleries, and don’t touch or get too close to the art; 18 inches is a safe distance. Use a pencil, as pens can accidentally damage the artwork. Sit safely without leaning on walls or lying on the gallery floor. Thank you.